Cataclysmic Circus
by LilyTheRandom
Summary: Before Sister Location, we all thought of what it would be like. What if it actually ended up the way we thought it could have? We welcome you to the greatest show on earth - led by Mr. Fazbear himself! It's going to be quite the ride, and not just for the observers of this circus. Behind the scenes, something much more sinister is hidden within the folds of the curtains.
1. Prologue

A man sat near a desk in a small, crowded workshop, working away at a project. The light was feeble and flickering, but it was enough to cover the corners of the room just enough. Beside his feet, humanoid shells in the shapes of foxes, bears and humans lay limp, looking more dead than they ever would.

The man looked up on a news article pinned to the wall in front of him. Freddy Fazbear's: Closed, it read in a worn, faded ink. Sighing, the man drifted his gaze back to his project.

"Fazbear Entertainment depends on this." the man grumbled under his breath. His voice was heavy, undertoned by a strong British accent. "Without this, surely they'll be going to shit."

 _Stop talking to yourself like this._ He told himself, smacking his forehead with his palm. _You're not this paranoid to finish some robots, are you?_

On his desk, the gleaming, hollow shell of a faux creature lay before him. It bore the image of a cheerful blue rabbit, a smile permanently engraved between its rosy cheeks and striking green eyes. From the top of its rounded head, two rabbit ears poked out into the air. Tidy splits lined the shell, most prominently the large one running straight down the front of its face.

Like he had for mere days before, the man tweaked the workings of the robotic creature. Switching between hammers, wrenches and screwdrivers in his hands, he whittled away at the ornate mechanisms that lay beneath the robotic rabbit's shell. As he worked, sunlight began to stream through the cracked blinds of the room.

As soon as he felt satisfied, even being the perfectionist he was, he ran his oil-stained hands ran along the smooth exterior of the creation, not leaving a single mark on its shell. He then flipped the robotic thing over to its back, where under a panel lay a small crank. As he twisted it, the inside of the suit began to click. Robotic parts and wires crudely slided towards the edges of the shell. There was just enough room inside the nearly-hollow creation to fit one human being, albeit in a tight fit.

The man smirked. The last of his creations was finished. He wiped sweat off his forehead and rustled through the papers on his desk. He removed six blueprints from the messy stack.

Each blueprint had a design similar to the finished creature before him. The man began to flip through the concepts.

 _Ballora, Minireena, Foxy, Freddy, Bidybab... Here we go. Baby Bonnie._

He pulled the blue-tinted paper onto the desk in front of him. The concepts sketched on it looked identical to the robot in every fashion. With satisfaction, a smirk turned up on his normally solemn face.

The man drifted around the room, bringing the rest of the creatures to the desk one by one. He stood back from the metallic corpses for a moment. Their eyes gleamed, but not with any sort of life.

On the corner of his desk, a dusty red phone lay silent. The man picked up the phone and held it to his ear, tapping his foot on the tiled floor as he clicked buttons in a sequence he'd dialed for years before.

"Hello, hello? Fazbear Entertainment."

The man grinned. That voice was all too familiar. "This is the CEO calling. I have news."

Static crackled through the line, leaving no room for silence. "What sort of news, Mr. Afton?"

"The animatronics that the company requested last week are ready. Expect them to be delivered this evening." the man said. He placed the phone back on its stand, cutting the call short with a click. His mouth remained upturned as he looked back towards the projects.

If there was one last way to fix his crumbling company, he'd found it.


	2. Anguish for a Murderer

William Afton held his head in his hands as he lurked in his office. Dust settled around him as he began to drift off. For what seemed like forever, he'd barely been able to keep up with his own company. Files lay strewn across the scratched mahogany of his desk, detailing layouts and other plans for a restaurant he'd been waiting ages to see.

The door to the office creaked open. A short, thin man looking to be barely out of college stepped in and took a seat in the chair across from William. The young man ruffled his blonde hair and straightened his tie haphazardly. "You asked for me, boss?" he muttered, his scrawny muscles tensing. William took one glance at his name tag, which read 'Sean' in rushed handwriting.

"Yes." William blankly said, locking eyes with the man in front of him. "I wanted to ask you one question and one only, Sean."

Shaking, Sean managed to mutter a response.. "And t-that question is?"

"It's been two weeks since I brought the new bots in. When are you and the others putting them up on the damn stage so we can open that restaurant?" he growled.

On the other side of the desk, Sean cleared his throat awkwardly. "U-Um, boss, we're doing that _today."_

William's scornful frown suddenly flipped to become a thin, tight smile. "Oh. _Good._ Be on your way, then. I'll meet with you and the others in a few minutes. Show you how to..." he hesitated, pondering what to say. "...how to handle these robots, per se."

"Y-yes, boss!" Sean stammered as he scrambled out of the room. As soon as he was gone, William let out a sigh of relief, chuckling without even knowing it. Through the cracks in the blinds, sunlight streamed into the room. Fading grey wallpaper glistened even with the feeble slivers of light.

Beside him lay an old, dusty drawer. Without a second thought, William opened it, revealing piles of aged folders and photographs half-sunken in dust and darkness. He pulled some of the contents out, not caring to look at them. He only wanted them to be close to him.

One of the pictures fluttered to the dusty tiled floor. A second one came with it, followed by yet another. The photographs were slipping out of his hands. He scrambled to pick them up, and he couldn't help himself but to take one glance.

The photographs all showed the same people. Two brown-haired boys, one young, the other looking a few years older. A little girl stood beside them with a wide grin on her face. Behind them stood William Afton himself.

For the longest time, he never really cared for them. He may have raised them, but they were just people to him. Nothing more.

 _Michael, Brendon and Suzy,_ he reminded himself. _I remembered their freaking names for once. Yay, me._

For being his children, he should have loved them. There was one time when he would have considered it, but there was... a _certain incident_ that made him think otherwise.

He remembered little of that day. The only things he could recall clearly were the blood on Michael's hands that day and a skull that was shattered like glass. The whole room was still with the presence of death himself, but it was also alive with the horrified screams of the living.

 _Go fuck yourself, Michael._ William thought, wishing he could scream it louder than he'd ever screamed before. _I may not care that much, but you did the worst thing a man can do. But here's the difference between us; I had a reason, you didn't. I would have killed you and drank your blood if I could so there'd be nothing left of you._

He began to realize what he'd thought. Deep down in his heart, he almost felt a pang of regret starting to grow.

William shuddered. _Stop thinking about that. Forget it. Forgive him._ The man slammed his head on the desk as his anguish got worse. He almost felt tears welling up in his eyes. _Why can't I stop thinking about it?!_

Hinges creaked almost silently at the entryway of the office. Someone's quivering voice came from the other side of the door. "Erm.. boss?"

William nearly jumped out of his chair, scrambling to place the old memorabilia back in its place. "Yes?"

"We're ready to go, boss. You said you wanted to come with?"

For once in his life, he stumbled over his words. "Y...Yeah. Sure. Get to the parking lot with the other workers." He stood, walking stiffly out of the room. He didn't mind that Sean was practically stepping on his heels.

Behind him, Sean's voice called out to him. "Uh.. Hate to ask, but w-what were you doing in there?"

Growling under his breath, William barely kept himself from snapping. "You don't need to know, Sean. Now shut up."

Falling silent, Sean backed away from the man before him. Before he knew it, they had found his co workers and began rushing off past the doors of the building they stood in. There was a restaurant to give life to, and they didn't want to hesitate any longer.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hey, y'all!

Yes, I did stick a little Horrifica reference in here - pretty obvious, I know, but hey. I had to! :P

There's gonna be a few mild delays on my stories soon, most likely. I'm going to be extremely busy in the next coming weeks. I apologize.

In the meantime though, stay tuned! I _miiight_ have another AU coming soon! (maybe when I finish this one)

 **Also:** this AU is based off old theories and predictions about SL before its release. If you have any, feel free to tell me!


	3. It Could Snap Off Your Nose

The employees soon found themselves outside. For the middle of May, the late spring breeze felt more like an oven that was baking them alive. Heatwaves rippled the surroundings. Heading around to the back of the building, the workers found themselves in a smoldering parking lot, standing in a desert of cracked asphalt.

A delivery truck was one of few vehicles in the near-empty lot. Its back doors were open wide, revealing the inside with a few crates laying haphazardly within it.

"Now, you all planned on delivering the new animatronics to the restaurant site, yes?" William Afton questioned to the employees next to him. "Just put 'em in this truck. Do it neatly. Those things are... delicate when left in the mode they're in."

Sean spoke up. "Uh- erm, what do you mean by that, boss?"

"Oh. I haven't told you about the springlocks, have I?" William said, "They're complex to be sure, but I'll explain it later. Ask one of your coworkers if you're just _dying_ to know."

He looked around. There were three others that he knew - a redhead named Karen, Alexander, who looked as out-of-place as a donkey in a fighting ring, and Toby, looking like he hadn't slept a wink in weeks.

He was obviously too shy to ask any of them.

William began to stroll back to the building. "Now, once you all get the animatronics in here, tell me. I'll be on my way as soon as possible. I expect you to be there before I am. Understood?"

Everyone nodded. They followed, searching for the room where the animatronics had been stored. It was a large storage room, littered with crates, bins and boxes. The dull grey walls had spiderwebs running through them and there wasn't a corner that was free of dust.

All of the employees wandered through the room, opening the dusty containers. Leaving some and taking others, it soon left the room almost empty.

Soon, once most of the crates were gone and loaded, it was just the employees and the robots. The animatronics were lying in one corner of the room, hunched over with their heads tilted unnaturally to the side. Their bright shells seemed to ignore the dust, the vibrant colors showing through. Their smooth plastic limbs were strung together by rough steel, a series of skeletons fused to faux skin.

Each animatronic was just large enough for one person to hold it. There were six of them haphazardly lined up in a row. There was a sly looking fox, a large bear, a slim bunny, and a few others that Sean didn't quite recognize. While Karen took the robotic rabbit and Toby picked up the bear, Sean absentmindedly decided to take the fox with him.

The robot was unusually light for something its size. As the asphalt seemed to melt his shoes, he felt at least somewhat relieved that it wasn't heavy. The truck seemed like miles away.

Trying to clear his parched throat, he continued to trudge onward. The fox seemed to be staring straight at him, but Sean didn't mind it. He finally felt himself in shade, standing behind the truck.

As Sean heaved the fox into the truck, he heard a small, tiny click coming from inside its plastic suit. Another click followed. Then another. He fumbled the thing out of his arms, and just before it hit the metal floor of the truck...

 ** _CRACK._**

Stumbling backwards, Sean hissed as his ears began to ring. His head ached with just the sheer volume of the noise. Confused, he couldn't tell whether it was the fox making the clatter or if two cars had crashed violently behind his sweat-soaked back. His breathing was heavy but rapid as a result of his panic.

He looked back at the fox. It was shaking and jolting as the clicks began to slow, flopping like a fish out of water. He could almost hear it screaming in anguish with the way its jaw hung open. Its head finally lurched to the side, and then it lay still.

It looked dead. As Sean approached it, he could see its eyes had rolled into the back of its skull like a dead man's. The robotic mechanisms that once stuck on the edges of the suit were now shoved into the hollow center, forming an animatronic skeleton. Despite what had just happened to it, the fox continued to smile, for that was the only expression carved permanently into its snout.

A woman's voice yelped from outside of the vehicle."Sean, what just-?" It was Karen, her eyes widened. "That sounded like a car crash..!" She was carrying the animatronic bunny character in her arms.

His voice shook. "U-um.. yeah. It did. I-I- I don't even know what that was..!"

"Springlocks." Karen mumbled. "From what I've heard, they tend to do that, but... I've never seen - or heard - it happen before." Her voice was soft, but rang with a hint of fascination.

For a moment, Sean sat silent. So that was what Mr. Afton was referring to. He shivered uncomfortably. That didn't sound anywhere near safe. He tried to say something, but only one word escaped his lips.

"Oh."

Karen sighed, placing down the computerized cottontail delicately on the floor of the truck. "Now, how about we get going? Mr. Afton's waiting."

And indeed he was.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hey, y'all! Been a bit stressed lately - I have a tonnn of projects to get done. But I'll probably be more consistent in releasing chapters so...

Oh yeah. If you haven't read Horrifica, my other AU, feel free to check it out! :D

Stay tuned, my friends!


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